


The Institute of Performance, Research, and Enquiry

by QueenieRose53001



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Art School, Awkward Flirting, F/F, F/M, Johan (The Adventure Zone) Should Be Spelled Johann, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, but not just any high school, its a performing arts charter high school
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-23
Updated: 2018-11-23
Packaged: 2019-08-28 08:16:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16719711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenieRose53001/pseuds/QueenieRose53001
Summary: Welcome to the performing arts charter school on the Neverwinter High School campus. People fall in love, worry about graduating and senior projects, find their passions, and make new friends.





	The Institute of Performance, Research, and Enquiry

**Author's Note:**

> if anyone from my actual real life school reads this, i will actually die
> 
> This was written for my best friend who was lamenting about the lack of Johavi content

Known more commonly as the open work space, the amphitheater in the Neverwinter Institute for Performance, Research, and Enquiry was always open to students before school started. There were a few chairs and whiteboard tables around, along with several other rearrangeable seating options that always seemed to be stacked into a fort by students from the other schools on the Neverwinter High School campus.

The lights were still off, and Johann Fidler, a freshman string focus, was in his usual morning seat as the first Institute student there. He had jammed himself into one of the corner, his hoodie pulled up over his face. To most onlookers, teachers and students alike, it looked like he was fast asleep. 

But one student knew better. He walked confidently into the open space, unafraid of the stigma his classmates associated with the Institute. The smell of coffee seemed to follow him, and his stick bag rattled as he moved. The noise made Johann look up. 

“Mornin’, Av,” Johann said, his voice tired and languid. Avi Volkov-Inaba, Johann’s best (and only?) friend, plopped his backpack onto the ground and sat down next to him. His long hair was tied back, the dark ponytail thrown over his shoulder, covering his favorite baby blue puffer vest and his white long sleeved shirt. Avi always smelled like caffeine, since he brought a cup of gas station coffee with him to school every morning.

“Did you even get any sleep last night, Johann? You look dead.” Avi asked, a note of concern in his otherwise joking tone. He brushed the pieces of hair that hung loose away from his face. A girl had followed Avi into the open area, and Johann could just recognize her as Julia Waxman, the daughter of one of the art teachers. They were all in the same grade, but Johann never talked to her. He knew that her father lived across the street from Avi, and had offered to drive him to school. 

A trio of Institute students, a pair of blonde twins and a dark skinned girl with white hair, wandered into the open area from across the hall, talking animatedly about some book they were reading. Julia took a seat at a whiteboard table across from them, and began to sketch. Johann watched her hand moving for a moment, and then shrugged haphazardly. “Got a new idea for that string concerto I’m composing. Had to get it down before I forgot it.”

“Well,” Avi said, tilting his head towards his mostly-unresponsive friend, “You definitely forgot something important last night.” 

“Huh?”

Avi laughed, and it rang out like a shot through the quiet halls. Julia froze, and she turned to look at him. She smirked knowingly at Avi, eyes flicking from him to Johann and back, and Avi blushed a tiny bit. She knew what he was trying to do. “You need sleep, Jo. I brought you some coffee.”

This woke Johann from his daze. He sat up and pushed his hood back, which let his hair fall around his face in thick coils. “Avi. You don’t have to give me your coffee. I don’t need it.”

“Yeah I do, Jo. You can’t fall asleep in class like last year,” Avi shook his head, setting the coffee down next to Johann. “Hey, do you want to come to the library during study hall and work on that concerto with me?”

Johann shrugged. “I’ll ask Ms. Paloma. Don’t count on me being there.”

“Sure thing, bud,” Avi said, shoving at Johann’s shoulder playfully. “Wait. Actually, I’ve got band today. Do you think Mrs. Queen-Istus will mind if you come into one of the practice rooms for study hall instead of us going to the library?”

“I don’t know. You’re the one who has Mrs. Queen-Istus in more classes. I still have to ask Ms. Paloma, though.”

A few students walked past the Institute's open area, stifling their whispered comments behind their hands. Avi saw them, and he leaned back against the seats, flinging his stick bag to his side with a clatter. “Ugh. I hate my classmates. They give me so much shit for hanging out here. I really should have listened to Julia and Mr. Waxman.”

“What did Julia try to talk you into today?” Johann said, furrowing his brow. Avi didn’t answer for a moment, instead watching the space in front of them.

The open area was beginning to fill with more Institute students, three boys, one wearing blue jeans and carrying a folder stuffed with crumpled lab forms and piano music. The second student was much shorter and had a prosthetic arm, and the third was the same height as the one with the prosthetic, but with bright ginger hair. They were greeted by the twins and the white haired girl, and they all chattered like a group of birds.

“She didn't try to talk me into doing anything this morning,” Avi sighed, watching other students call out for their friends. “It happened last year. She and Mr. Waxman tried to convince me that the Institute was the best place for me to go to school.”

Johann’s eyes widened, and he unconsciously let his mouth fall open. “Why didn’t you sign up? We could hang out all the time! Not just before school.”

“What would I do at the Institute?” Avi shrugged. “I can’t draw, I can’t act, I can barely write a complete sentence to save my life. You know I nearly failed English last year. I could be a band emphasis, but I’m not good at playing percussion.”

“You don’t have to be good at it. You know Brian Schmidt? That one vocal emphasis I keep complaining about? He’s absolute shit at what he does. Insists on singing only in German.”

Avi laughed at this, grabbing his water bottle from his backpack and taking a long drink. “I’ll think about it. Maybe I could talk my parents into letting me transfer next year.”

Johann sat up straighter. “Why wait until next year? You could transfer in like a month! The semester ends soon!”

A small gasp slipped through Avi’s lips, and he jolted upright. The movement startled Johann, and he flinched. “Of course! I can transfer at semester! Johann Fidler, you are an absolute fucking genius!”

Johann opened his mouth to make a sarcastic comment, but his voice failed him as Avi kissed him on the cheek. He blinked twice as Avi jerked away, struck with the comprehension of what he had done.

“Shit, man. I’m sorry, I should have asked, I should have-” A hand on Avi’s shoulder made the words die in his throat. 

“Avi, it’s okay. I don’t mind.”

Johann watched as Avi’s already flushed face grew redder and redder. He looked away, unable to meet Johann’s gaze. His hands twisted in his lap, picking at a hangnail, then jumping up to run fingers through his hair, mussing up his already messy ponytail. 

A shrill buzz rang through the halls, signalling for students to head to their first hour classes. Johann startled, nearly spilling the cup of coffee Avi was pressing insistently into his hands. 

When Johann was situated, Avi leapt to his feet, swinging his backpack onto his shoulders. “I’ll see you in study hall, Johann. Okay?”

Johann offered him a tiny smile, his face still hot. “That sounds okay. I’ll see you then.”

**Author's Note:**

> Unfortunately, I have to give all of the characters last names. Thanks griffin. 
> 
> Fortunately, I will give them all the shittiest puns for last names. You're welcome, griffin


End file.
